Is Chael Sonnen next for Anderson Silva?

Chael Sonnen gave an interview to GracieMag right before his fight with Paulo Filho and no one noticed that it had some pretty interesting information in it. Fortunately, jackals never miss anything and Deze Nuts sent me a link to the story:

You are one of the best fighters in the WEC. Are you thinking of heading to the UFC?

Truth is, after this fight I’m going to the UFC.

Do you have an idea who your first opponent in the UFC will be?

Once I’m in the UFC, my first adversary will be Anderson Silva.

Really? Has that been confirmed?

Yes, it’s confirmed. Once I’m in the UFC I’ll fight Anderson Silva. I think he’s a great fighter, but I’m only going to start thinking about that after my fight with Paulo Filho. If you want to ask me about it after tonight, I’ll be happy to answer.

This interview was given on the day of the fights, so Filho had already flunked his weigh-in and the WEC title had been taken off the table. Is it possible that the UFC decided to make up for the situation by offering Sonnen a shot at Anderson Silva if he beat Paulo Filho? It seems fair considering Filho’s place not just in the WEC but in everyone’s overall middleweight rankings.

Still, all this was before Filho and Sonnen had a fight that was so bad it qualifies for a Worstie nomination. Sure, you can largely blame Filho for the situation but it’s not like Sonnen did much to help carry the bout. Hell, if I had an offer to fight for the UFC middleweight title, I’d have stepped back and allowed Filho’s mental breakdown to win me a unanimous decision too.

So now the question is if Sonnen really will get that shot. Dana has said that Anderson Silva wants to get back into the ring as quickly as possible. Did Dana dangle that fight in front of Chael Sonnen?